


Musical Silence

by MintMoon



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Highschool AU, Romance, dk - Freeform, dokyeom - Freeform, lee seokmin - Freeform, x Reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-04 10:58:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14018784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintMoon/pseuds/MintMoon
Summary: Park Gihae is a singer in a group called AURA and has moved to a new school for her junior and senior year. She has high hopes that nobody will find out who she really is and wears a disguise to hide it. A group of thirteen boys befriend her; they call themselves SEVENTEEN and are popular in the area. Of the thirteen boys, a specific boy in Gihae's class catches her eye, but there's too much drama to know what's even going on anymore.





	1. New

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes and any ooc-ness.  
> I will be using they're stage names, they are basically nicknames in this fanfic and their real names will only be brought up once in a while.
> 
> Please note that all 13 of them are in the school and as follows:  
> Freshman-- Year 1: Dino, Vernon, Seungkwan  
> Junior-- Year 2: Reader, Dokyeom, Mingyu, The8, Woozi, Wonwoo  
> Senior-- Year 3: Hoshi, Jun, Joshua, Jeonghan, S. Coups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nice to meet you, I'm Gihae," my smile can only be so bright before it's wrecked by the response I least expect.  
> "What?" Was he not paying attention to me?!

           I sigh in annoyance as I glance at the mirror once more and fix my disguise. My hair is in a style that I don’t usually do. Not only that, but wearing fake glasses and color contact lenses is uncomfortable to the point where I don’t know whether it is even worth it anymore. I sure hope it is. At this point I’m starting to regret doing something before I even having the chance to graduate.

           “Gihae! Time to leave!” I smile and run out to the car with my school bag. I’m really wishing that this is enough for me to not be noticed.

           “Do I look like Giha- I mean Luna?” I quickly ask with excitement.

           “Nope, you actually look like a cute nerd,” my manager laughs.

           “Hey!” I look away in embarrassment. Now I know that I will not ask that to her ever again.

           The rest of the ride is quiet. I actually like that, I have time to read for once in a while! When she pulls up to the school, I get anxious like everytime. I know I’m an idol, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have any fears!

           “Gihae, look,” managernim looks at me with determined eyes, “don’t let anyone bully you okay, and make sure that disguise of yours actually works. I believe in you because I know you can do it, no doubt about it!” Her hopeful words bring me up as I smile brightly and nod.

           “Thank you managernim!” I leave the car forgetting she needs to lead me into the office and talk to people. I honestly don’t know what she’s actually supposed to do, but oh well.

           We walk into the school’s office together as I’m told to sit and wait. I pull out my book once again and continue to read from where I left off. There’s a lot about this book that I love, one of them being about food, but also that it’s dramatic and comedic at the same time.

           “Gihae, follow her, she’ll lead you to the class you’re supposed to be in right now,” managernim smiles, bows, thanks, and takes her leave. I put my book away and stand up.

           It is completely silent on the way to the classroom, so I take mental notes on what’s where and just try to map it out in my mind. It looks similar to my previous schools, but I’m really hoping to meet people who I can actually become friends with without being betrayed or backstabbed by.

           “Here is your room, the teacher will give you your schedule and tell you where to sit,” I nod and thank the person, shyly opening the door to the classroom. No matter how quiet I am while opening the door, everyone’s eyes are on me.

           “Ah, class pay attention, we have a new student,” a woman who appears to be quite young, smiles at me and waves me in. I imagined her to be bigger and meaner than this. I do have to say though, this class does seem to fit in the ‘mean’ category. This  _ is _ my first impression though, so it can and most likely will change after a while.

           “Hello, my name is Park Gihae, please take care of me,” I bow.

           “Gihae you can sit in that open seat next to Mingyu back there,” she points and I go. He seems like a mature person, so when I sit down I look at him and smile, not thinking about how dorky I look right now.

           I’m assuming it is homeroom since people are doing different kinds of work, whether it be note taking, reading, a project, or just homework.

           The teacher walks up to me after a minute passes and hands me my schedule. With a soft face she tells me I can stay in this seat since I have her for my next class and nobody really sits here. I nod with a smile and look down at my schedule. It looks closely similar to my old schedule, which is good, but the classes they assigned my to seem interesting. I wonder if they did this on purpose. Did they somehow know what classes I’d prefer? Did managernim tell them? Was this all just an educated guess? Did they look into my brain somehow? Before I can ask myself any more questions I shake my thoughts away.

           Even when class begins and people start to come and go I feel like all-- well most-- of the attention is still on me. I scramble to get my notebook out so I can take as many notes as possible. Unlike many others, I don’t take anymore classes after school. I’ll just have one of the other members tutor me.

           “Gihae, can you do this problem up on the board?” Teachernim holds up a piece of chalk and hands it to me when I talk up to the chalkboard.

           I quickly look at the problem and do the side math first before showing the actual work with the answer. For me actually not paying too much attention, I think I did pretty good, but I shouldn’t let my confidence rule over me right now. I put the chalk back in the teacher’s hand and walk back to my seat silently.

           I look at the classmate on my right, Mingyu, and smile at him again when he looks. This time he actually smiles back. Maybe this is because I didn’t give a dorky smile this time.

           The student in front of me and gives Mingyu a thumbs up when he notices that he was staring. Mingyu nods back in response. Somehow this gains multiple students’ attention. Confused by it all, I just ignore it all and take notes on the lesson.

 

           Finally!!! I stretch in my seat as I lick my lips, ready to eat. I grab my lunch and walk straight to where I assume the lunch room is. Walking into the lunch room I spot my two classmates waving me over to come sit with them. I sweatdrop at their action and consider my options: sit with my new friends that I met in class earlier on or sit with the group of cute boys that are waving to me. I choose my second option, but first I tell my friends I’ll sit with them tomorrow.

           I finally walk over to the boys’ table and continuously think about how weird they are, my judgy side is finally wanting to show up in my mind. I really thought I got rid of it.

           I take out my lunch and slowly open it to reveal what I’ve been make. Mini pajeon!! Cute! With my kind of usual hunger, I will eat whatever at school! If I’m outside of school I do become a little more picky. The boys who sit in front and beside me turn to look at me. Do they want to strike a conversation or what?

           “Hi, Gihae right? My name is Lee Seokmin, but you can call me DK or Dokyeom!” The boy who sits in front of me introduces himself and smiles. Oh cute, he eye smiles!

           “Alright Dokyeom,” I smile back and look over at the boy next to me, Mingyu.

           “Hi, your name is Mingyu, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Gihae,” my smile can only be so bright before it’s wrecked by the response I least expect.

           “What?” He asks. Was he seriously not paying attention to me?!

           “Haha sorry about him,” DK laughs nervously before looking at me.

           “Eh? Oh, it’s fine,” I shrug it off and begin to eat. “Wait, do you guys not have anything to eat?” I notice there’s no food on Mingyu’s desk, and when I glance at Dokyeom’s desk there’s nothing there too.

           “O-oh well, we usually don’t eat anything for lunch,” I raise an eyebrow to Dokyeom’s response.

           “Really? You look pretty hungry if you look at it from my perspective,” I pause to think for a minute, “How about you both have the rest of my lunch! I’m pretty full anyways, so you can both have it.

           “What?” Their eyes widen in reaction to what I said.

           “I hope you know I don’t say this to just anyone, so take it, you both look starving anyways. What do you do? Not eat breakfast or something?” I joke, but they avert their gaze away from me as soon as I ask. “Oops.”

           In the end, they both split my lunch in half and wolf the food down. Thought they were hungry and I sure am right about that! I smile victoriously as there's satisfaction due to the food on their faces. I look around the classroom to see most to possibly all the girls and maybe boys just glaring at me. Not knowing what I did wrong, I shrug. The other boys at the lunch table just stare at me.

           “Is there something on my face?” I tilt my head obliviously.

           “You’ve got to be kidding me,” one of them murmurs. I don’t know which one of the three other boys it is, but I hope I didn’t do anything to upset them. 

           I really just want school to be over now.

           “Well,” I clasp my hands together and smile cheerfully at the whole table, “my name is Gihae, a transfer student.” I didn’t think much about introducing myself. Maybe now people’ll be more fr--

           “What school did you come from?” One asks.

           “How’d you come to be friends with those dorks?” I most certainly did not expect this.

           “Hey!” Mingyu shouts.

           “What are your hobbies?”

           “Do you live around here?”

           I am most certainly shook by this. I take my time to slowly answer each question.

           “First, I came from one of the neighboring schools. Which one? That’s a secret. Second, the two boys sit directly in front and beside me, there’s nothing I can really do about it. Third, I-” I pause for a moment, thinking about how to explain what my hobbies are without giving any hints that I’m an idol, “I like to sing and dance! I most definitely love to sing, but I also like to read and talk to my friends on my free time. And four, I kinda live around here? I guess I do, but it’s around a ten minute walk from my home to school. Anymore questions?”

           The five boys all shake their heads no, but then Dokyeom jolts up with a question.

           “You like to sing and dance?”

           “Y- yeah, why?” I gulp, worried that I’ve been caught.

           “We do to! Actually we’re known for that.”

“Is that why you seem popular?” Sudden relief washes over me.

           “Yup,” Mingyu answers for DK.

           “Wow, that’s amazing!” My eyes sparkle with delight. People who are actually like me! Well, except they don’t have to wear a dumb disguise like I do.

 

           The rest of the school day just passed by quickly, and now I’m in the car’s passenger seat while my manager is driving us home.

           “How was it? Anyone found out?” She asks. What a bright way to start a conversation managernim!

           “It was great I guess, luckily no one did, but I met people who are popular and like to sing and dance like me!” I smile brightly.

           “That’s good,” she smiles back. Managernim is like a mother figure to me. I never thought about this until now, but she’s like an exact copy of my mother, but younger!

           “Right? They even asked me to sit at their lunch table today and I shared my lunch with them!”

           “Gihae..? Did you eat at all?”

           “Huh? Of course I did, but two of them seemed like they needed to eat, so I shared my food with them.”

           “Gihae, you’re too nice. People are going to take advantage of you one day.”

           “I’ll keep being nice until that day. No way will I let people take advantage of me! Well… except the girls at home..”

           “That’s because you’re the youngest and probably the most oblivious,” aaaannndd Managernim states the facts!

           “Sorry…” is all I can manage to say. Luckily we just reached the house, or the rest of the ride could’ve been suuuper awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is the beginning, only Mingyu and Dokyeom are friends with you, Gihae. The other members don't really like her because they think she's a fan of them.


	2. Not a Fan?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you guys think I was a fan or something? I have never heard of you guys," I burst out with laughter, but try to quiet down as quickly as possible.

           “Luna! How was your first day?”

           “Did you meet new friends?”   
           “Were they nice to you?”   
           “Did they see through your disguise?”

           “Any cute guys there?”

           “Did you eat?”

           All of the members asking me questions surprises me. Before I could answer their questions managernim barges in, “Hey! Leave the poor girl alone. All seven of you, go practice. Now.”

           Her stern voice warns us she’s not having it. I have homework to do, but this dance practice won’t be long, right? We all run out the door and jump into the van. She looks at us, at her car, then her van. She sighs then walks over to the van with the keys in hand.

           “Rosie, sit in the passenger seat so the girls can have some more room,” managernim commands. Rosie nods and silently slips into the passenger seat. All of us obey managernim when she’s like this, even the oldest of the seven of us, Rosie.

           “What’s our plans for this week?” Rosie asks.

           “This whole week you’ll be practicing everything; your dances, singing, english I guess, and your rapping. From Friday to Saturday you’ll be having a fan meet. Where? It’s a surprise,” she laughs.

           “Friday? I’m missing school on Friday then?” My eyes widen by that thought. That means I’ll be missing work, and I can get in trouble for that. Do the teachers and faculty know I’m an idol? I sure hope that they do…

           “Yup, we’re actually leaving on Thursday afternoon to go to that place too,” she adds.

           “O-oh alright…” I sigh in disappointment. It’s not managernim’s fault, right? I don’t even know anymore. I just don’t want to miss anymore school work.

           When we get to the company building the sun is just starting to set.

           “Maybe-”

           Before managernim can continue the six girls and I yell in unison, “No!”

           “A-alright,” she parks and we all walk into the building, all knowing where we’re supposed to go. Oh lord. As we walk silently I come to the thought of our first year since debut. It’s coming up and luckily we’re basically celebrating it at the fan meeting!

 

           I bolt up due to my alarm. How much sleep did I even get? I only remember the other girls stayed up past me because of practice, but I probably won’t be feeling any better than they do when they wake up. I glance at the time and turn off the alarm. I groan, then rush to the bathroom to get ready.

           My morning routine is as follows: press snooze one (or twice), shower, shave (if any time at all), put on my makeup, dress into my uniform and disguise, brush my teeth, and then leave to go to school.

           Before I start to apply any makeup, I look at my face in the foggy mirror. It’s hard to tell, but there are slight bags under my eyes. I can only sigh at this and make sure to cover it with the makeup.

           “Gihae time to leave!” Managernim yells for me. No breakfast… again. I hate this education system so much!!

           “Coming,” I run out with my school bag and enter Managernim’s car. We have a silent drive the whole time. Luckily, it seems shorter that way. It should be the opposite right?

           After some time we finally get there. She smiles at me as I leave the car and enter homeroom. Not a lot of my classmates seem to be here yet, so I sit in my seat and indulge in this wonderful silence. My hands on my lap, and my back right against the seat, I smile to myself and close my eyes.

           I open my eyes to see Mingyu and DK looking at me.

           “What?” I ask. They just stare. Not really thinking, I wipe the corners of my mouth gently and notice that I just woke up from a nap. I assume it’s a short one. “How long?” I ask.

           “Since we got here, around fifteen minutes,” Mingyu states.

           My face goes red as I look away, “were you watching the whole time?”

           “Yeah, but every now and then we’d talk to each other,” I think my face just went a shade too dark.

           “W- why? I look ugly when I nap!” Especially with this disguise, I want to say, but I don’t.

           “Really? I thought Gihae looked cute~” Dokyeom teases me.

           I look down and squeeze the hem of my skirt. I shake my head and wait in silence for one of the three of us to speak up because for sure I will not be me.

           Instead of one of the three of us, a girl shyly walks up to DK from behind me. As she does this, she kicks my chair.

           “Ah, sorry,” she fakely apologizes. Ugh, not again.

           “It’s fine, I move my chair closer to my desk as I listen to what the girl has to say.

           “Se- I mean Dokyeom p-please take this l-letter,” she bows while handing it to him. Mingyu and DK don’t seem phased by this at all. Is this… normal?

           I tilt my head in confusion and curiousity, “What just happened? What was that?”

           The look at me in slight shock. Their eyes widen a little. That only makes me more confused.

           “Never mind, just ignore me and oblivious, slow self,” I sigh and lay on my crossed arms on the desk. I breathe deeply, only making me more sleepy each time I do this.

           “Nonono Gihae it’s okay,” Dokyeom rubs my back. That’s a little touchy, but for some reason I don’t mind. It might be because the members do it to me a lot. I only get more sleepy with this. I feel bad for thinking this, but I want him to stop. I don’t wanna get in trouble for falling asleep like this.

           “Noo~” I moan, trying to get him to stop with my voice, but it only gets silent in the classroom. Mingyu laughs and pulls DK’s hand away. DK laughs it off and I lift my head from my arms.

           I cough, then look away. That’s when I hear whispers.

           “Who does she think she is?”

           “What is she? A slut?”

           “Moaning for one of the Seventeen. Who is she for doing that?”

           “Does she have some hand kink or something?”

           People in the class snicker and I can only blush a deep red in embarrassment. What will the boys think of me now? I just ruined my high school reputation…

           I continue the rest of homeroom in silence and don’t look at anyone but the teachers I have in my classes. During the breaks we have I read. Rumors get passed on easily. I hate- I mean despise that so much.

           As fast as these classes pass by, lunch finally comes. I grab my lunch and silently head to the cafeteria, fixing my fake glasses and my hair style.

           I look down as I head to my new friends’ lunch table. Their glare at me immediately tells me they don’t want me here. I wearily smile then shamly walk over to the boys’ table.

           “M- mind if I sit here?” They look at me confused.

           “You’re always welcome to sit here!” Dokyeom speaks up. I force a smile then sit down in the seat I sat in yesterday.

           “Thank you,” I stare at my lunch. I’m no longer hungry. I’m pretty sure I’m starting to gain weight anyways.

           I turn my gaze away from my lunch to my book and begin to read. This story is relatable, it’s probably my favorite. I almost want to throw it at the wall for being relatable. I tightly grip the book. The only unrelatable thing is all the angst in the main character’s life, and the way he views everything is just slightly different from mine.

           “Whatcha reading?”   
           “Aren’t you gonna way?”   
           “Are you alright Y/n?”   
           The boys look at me worriedly. I instantly soften my expression and give them a smile.   
           “It’s nothing, and I’m not hungry. Y-you guys can have it,” I push my lunch away from me.

           “No, it’s your food. I feel bad for eating your food yesterday…” Mingyu states.

           This only gets me to instant regret. They find it a surprise to see me giving away my food even though it’s my second day here. I don’t understand. Have they already found out about me? No way. I never shared my food at my old school, even if I didn’t want it. I get shaken from my thoughts by some girls who stand by our lunch table.

           “If you don’t want it we’ll take it,  _ slut _ ,” they whisper the last word under their breaths in unison as they reach for my lunch.

           “Actually on second thought we’ll take it,” Mingyu snatches your lunch, not even glancing or looking at the girls. They scoff in response and strut away. I mean, like, strut. What the heck?

           “But you said… never mind.”

           “They don’t deserve to have your food. Next time just let us have it. If anyone offers to take it don’t let them,” The8 tells me. It’s not even a question, just a demand. I’m not bothered by it, I could just do this everyday and be fine with it.

           Mingyu distributes the food for the other boys evenly. He’d most definitely can cook if he’s tried.

           That gets me to ask: “Mingyu, have you ever cooked?”

           He laughs, “I always cook for these boys. Actually not just these four, but all twelve!”

           “Thirteen… wait. I heard some people whisper ‘Seventeen’ in homeroom. If there’s thirteen of you, why Seventeen?”

           “Well, there’s thirteen of us, three units-- hip-hop, vocal, and performance,-- and one team,” this causes the five boys to realize that I’ve never heard of them. The shock is only written on their faces with so much detail to tell. I laugh.

           “Did you guys think I was a fan or something? I have never heard of you guys. I was literally introduced to this area a few days before I started to come to school here,” I cough a few times and calm down. 

           “That’s a relief. I thought that we’d have to kick you out of our table if you ever once fangirled about us,” Wonwoo states. Okay??

           “Well-” A teacher calls for me before I can even finish, so I get up with my book and come to him.

           The teacher tells me that Managernim is here to pick me up. She never told me anything this morning, why at lunch time anyways. Before I could go back to tell the boy, he tells me to grab my things and go. Turns out she’s been waiting, but it was lunch.

           I rush to go to her and leave the school building.

           “So..? Why are you picking me up early?”   
           “The hotel we were supposed to stay in told us that we had to come there to get the rooms, so we have to leave now. Also, we have a longer stay there. We didn’t want to tell you that to upset you, but here we are,” she nervously laughs, waiting for my reaction as we enter her car.

           “Okay then, that’s that,” I force myself to say. I’d scream at her if I could, but I have no right to. I take a few deep breaths. I have to stay calm and deal with this situation easily. I have no reason to slack of like I did in the cafeteria.

           “That’s a huge relief. I thought you were going to start going off on me about balancing school and work-”

           “Singing and dancing is  _ not _ work Managernim. We talked about this before. I’m only doing something that I enjoy,” I look at her in the eye and smile. A vibe full of purity and honesty. A bright happy vibe if I say so myself. I shrug innocently.  


           “Alright Luna, if you say so,” Managernim jokes as she pulls away from the school and we head home where we’ll meet with the others and leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much a heads up for the next chapter, but don't get mad at me, this'll be on the next chapter too. Since their ages are all mixed and stuff (and also because this is an AU), this will be slightly different than what I planned. The atm is different from the year the '97 liners and so on graduated if that wasn't obvious enough.  
> Basically, groups will be mentioned that are younger/older than SEVENTEEN now, so please don't be confused. I will explain this more next week. If you have any questions dm me on Instagram (Serenity_Quartz or MintMoon_17) or Tumblr (nct-dokyeom). If you want it to be private my asks in Tumblr is open and I have my Sarahah (MintMoon_17) too.


	3. Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Gihae… Gihae wake up."  
> I'm being shaken awake. Whose voice is that? I don't recognize it. I fake being asleep. I can't trust a voice I don't know. I can't trust anyone I don't know.

“I wanted to say bye to my classmates,” I pout and look out the window, keeping my eyes on the school as we drive away.  
“It’s fine. It’s not like you’ll never see them again anyways,” Managernim sighs.  
We pass buildings that I don’t remember seeing. Am I blind? Wait.. what these buildings?! They look worn and torn apart. This isn’t safe.  
“Managernim..?” I panic on the inside, but I refuse to show it. I need to stand my ground.  
“Hm?”  
“Where are we going?”  
“Home, why?”  
“We never go down this way and the drive is literally like three to five minutes,” I glance at the dashboard, “it’s been longer than that.”  
“Well, I needed to stop by somewhere.”  
“Where is that? You tell me everything, we’re basically each other’s counselors,” I lie. I don’t tell my secrets or problems to anyone but Aura.  
“It’s a surprise, besides, we all have secrets to keep.”  
I groan. This makes Managernim so untrustworthy!! I roll my eyes and suddenly sit up straight with an idea.  
“Look, see that building. That’s where we’re headed first. We’re almost there,” the building is far, but even from here it looks worn out and suspicious. I have to do something and now.  
“Stop really quick? Pleaseeee?” I beg.  
“Sorry, not right now.”  
“But you always let me! What’s wrong with you today?” I lie about that. She never does, but her tone doesn’t sound familiar. The suspicion in me only grows.  
“We’re almost there. Can’t you just hold it in?”  
“Plus,” I add, “I need to use the bathroom badly. It was lunch and you got me before I could you the washroom.” I rub my legs together and put my hands down, slightly shaking out of fear and acting. I’m so glad I made an excuse so quickly.  
“Ugh, fine, but be quick,” she rolls her eyes as I quickly exit with my school bag. I walk behind the nearest and largest bush. I whip out my phone and my water bottle. I open the water bottle and pour the water very, very slowly. While that happens I scroll in a panic through my contacts. I swear I added them here. Where are they?! Finally finding the right contact I immediately send them my location.  
The water bottle empties and I call out, “before you say anything, give me another minute to clean up! I need to find my tissues in my bag!”  
“Fine! Hurry!”  
I put the water back in my bag slowly, so it doesn’t make a crinkly sound. I text them my emergency and really hope they look at it as soon as possible. I continuously glance, but there’s nothing.  
“U-uh can you give me another minute? My stomach doesn’t feel so good,” I fake a groan loudly as I start to spam their phone. ANSWER!! PLEASE!!! I’M BEGGING YOU!!  
Before I can stop the sound, my phone starts to buzz and ring. Crap. I immediately silence it and glance around.  
“Gihae!! What was what?” Managernim yells.  
“Sorry! My mother was texting to ask how I am and when I’ll be able to see her!” I loudly lie. Finally a text back, my heart pounds as I read it as quickly as possible.  
“CAN YOU HURRY UP?! HOW SLOW CAN YOU BE?!” so said ‘Managernim’ screams at me.  
“YOU SHOULD KNOW I TAKE A WHILE. YOU SHOULD’VE LET ME GO BEFORE WE LEFT!! JUST WAIT!” I cry out.  
I text back and can only pray that he’s fast enough to get here as soon as possible. Please save me. The suspicion could never get worse… could it?  
Whatever this is… kidnapping. This brings back bad memories. The kind of memory that you want to forget, but sticks to you. It’s a scar, something that cannot be just forgotten or rid of easily or at all.  
The way I act towards this person… it’s not the same way as I treat Managernim. This is only because I know Managernim would never treat me the way this person’s treating me. I shudder at the thought of rumors spreading about me like this. That’s when I’m hit with realization: I’m in my disguise. That means the person knows my true identity. I knew I should’ve used a fake name, but I know that’s really not all. I know there’s more to it, but how?  
This only leads me to think and forget about acting. It must’ve been… I gasp a little too loudly. It can only be when we went to practice. I didn’t take off my disguise as soon as I got home from school, so this is the only reason how. The place where I live is nowhere close to the company building, and the house doesn’t seem like a place where a group would live in anyways.  
I start to stress and start to bite the edge of my fingernail. Of course when I think I broke that habit I obtain it again. I start to hear sirens blaring, only getting louder. As I hope it’s real and not just me, I squeeze my eyes shut tightly, not daring to open them.  
That’s when I’m snatched. I hold a tight grip onto my phone and flail around. I hit whatever is holding me and try to wiggle out of their grip.  
In the background, there’s a series of yelling and arguing back and forth. I’m scared.  
“Let go of me!” I scream for help, too terrified to open my eyes. I place my bet that it was the person impersonating Managernim. I start to lose my energy and give in. I’m not thrown, dropped, or abused. I’m confused though.  
“Gihae… open your eyes,” it’s DK’s voice. He sounds like he’s about to start crying, like he’s in deep pain.  
“Seo- I mean Dokyeom,” I flutter my eyes open, still shaking, basically vibrating. “I’m scared!” I cry out, “I don’t want to get taken again!”  
Memories from my past traumatizing event come zooming to my present mind. I almost feel it again: the beatings, abuse, threats. They’re all coming back. Forgetting where I am, who I’m with, what just happened, I start to cry. I feel the experience. I can see it all too vividly, but it was such a long time ago.

“Gihae… Gihae wake up.”  
I’m being shaken awake. Whose voice is that? I don’t recognize it. I fake being asleep. I can’t trust a voice I don’t know. I can’t trust anyone I don’t know.  
“Well, I don’t know whether you can hear me or not, but I’m Choi Seungcheol, please call me S.Coups. I’m the leader of Seventeen. You’ve already met some of us, right? Dokyeom, Mingyu, The8, and them. I, uh, hope you wake up soon. Everyone’s worried. Most of us haven’t met you and don’t really know you that well, but we are all worried. We want to get to know you, but in order for that to happen, you need…”  
Not even realizing it, I slowly fall asleep, not being able to hear the rest of his talk. He did think I was asleep anyways, so to me, I don’t really care anymore. I shouldn’t care at all, but I have to.  
Weeping, sobbing, arguing. This is the second awakening for me. This time I actually open my eyes and look around with alert. My mother and father are yelling at each other, not away that I am awake yet. They stand at the feet at my bed, a few feet apart from each other. They’re yelling about letting me audition and debut, putting the blame on one another. Childish.  
AURA and the real Managernim are sitting on both sides of me, either crying or sitting there mindlessly. That’s when I get a pounding headache. Nobody still notices I’m awake as I feel like I’m slowly breaking apart in my mind. Memories start to come back. I don’t want to remember.  
Just as I feel like I am going to cry, there is a soft knock on the door. The room goes completely silent. But it’s just a knock, how is that possible?  
“Is Lu-Gihae awake?” They all come pouring into the small room.  
Before anyone dares to answer, I smile and answer, “yeah, thanks for visiting.” With them in the room, the vibe completely changes, and everyone looks at me wide-eyed. “I have a killer headache right now, can someone get me a glass of water?”  
“I’ll do it,” Managernim stands up and leaves. I can tell she’s done with the expression on her face. I giggle. I know I’m not myself right now, but maybe it’s the side effects of something.  
“When did you wake up?” My mother asks, shocked.  
“In the middle of your little argument, you know, when you were putting the blame on each other,” I call my parents out. They glare at me for a second, but I don’t care.  
“Excuse us,” my parents bow, then exit the room.  
“Well, since that’s out of the way, what are you guys doing here?” I smile. They’re not shocked by my sudden change in attitude and personality. When I’m with both of my parents I’m more grumpy and rude.  
“We wanted to see how you were doing, and it seems that you’re somewhere in between good and bad?” Wonho speaks first.  
“Ah, and whose idea was that?” I laugh, “just kidding, but thanks for visiting; it means so much to me that you did so.”  
“Nice to see you guys again!” Akari smiles brightly.  
“Nice to see you guys too,” Minhyuk smiles back.  
“What am I supposed to do..? I’m too scared to just go into a car without thinking I’m being kidnapped now,” I start to stress. Everyone’s smiles disappear. We used to joke about this kind of stuff, but it’s not going to be like that anymore. “Not only that, but it’s all over the news and people will probably get suspicious of me at school. What if they accuse me of being the one attempting to kidnap myself?!” I sounds too crazy to even say, but I can just say that it will probably end up happening.  
“Evidence. Make an excuse. You can make something up going off being in the hospital. Your friends could back you up, too,” Rosie suggests.  
“Ah, that’s true,” I nod.  
“How about we change the topic to something else,” Jooheon speaks up.  
“Like what?” Rin asks.  
Before anyone can suggest anything, Managernim comes back with a glass of water. I act like a child, trying to reach for the water even though it’s clearly far away from me.  
“Luna, how are you feeling?” Managernim asks.  
“Good, thanks,” I lie. I know it actually her, but I still can’t help but feel cautious.


End file.
